Beckett Grading Services (BGS) to start grading 1983-86 Star Co Basketball Cards

Ysponder

By C Gurr  
11/26/2008 8:55:18 AM


Beckett Grading Services (BGS), the leading sports card grading company in the industry, will be expanding its portfolio of services to include ‘83-86 Star Company basketball cards beginning Dec. 1, 2008.

The move was initiated through a request from The Schonco Sports Collection to have BGS grade their inventory of Star Co. basketball cards prior to its release onto the market.

Star Co. was the exclusive licensed distributor of NBA cards in the early 1980s, and their limited edition sets feature some of the earliest and most valuable Michael Jordan rookie cards available.

BGS had not previously offered grading services for this product as it was believed that many of the existing cards on the market were counterfeit, or possibly reprinted, long after their original runs. To quickly ramp up expertise in the grading of the collection, BGS has recruited the help of Star Co. expert Steve Taft to train staff on the nuances of the series.

The new BGS services available to the public on Dec. 1 will include grading for all un-bagged basketball card singles including the three mainstream sets, insert sets, subsets, promotional sets such as "Gatorade" and "Crunch 'N Munch”, and 5x7 oversized cards. Graded cards will carry a label designating it as part of The Schonco Sports Collection inventory.

"Best of the Best" and "Magic Johnson" sets will only be graded out of the pedigreed Schonco Sports Collection, and public grading of bagged sets may be offered in the future.

The Schonco Sports Collection cards will include some of Jordan’s early cards as well as many key sets like 1984 Boston, Dallas, Detroit and Philadelphia team sets. With a high demand from long-time Star collectors, these cards are expected to disappear quickly once they become available for sale.